Financier arrested for cheating, forgery

The city police have arrested a local financier for fraud. Eleven people had alleged that Satwant Mehta, who ran a business of finance and got blank cheques and other papers signed from people who got loans from him, later blackmailed them.

Even after the loan was returned, the accused would not return the cheques or other documents, and at times blackmailed them, the complainants alleged.

The victims complained to the SSP that the accused ran the business without any approval and also concealed it from the income tax department. The amount filled in the cheques varied from Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh, according to the complainants.

The complainants alleged that the financier used to force those who had once got loan from him to help him get the cheques by others encashed in their name, and in case they refused, he misused their documents.The complainants cited 14 examples of those whose cheques had been lying as surety with the accused and had been submitted for encashment by people other than the accused.

SSP Gurpreet Singh Toor said, "A delegation of around 25 people had approached me. I referred the case to the Economic Offence Wing. The accused has been arrested and many blank cheques and other documents have been recovered from him. It is a serious case of financial crime and the matter will be investigated thoroughly. The complainants had alleged cheating and blackmailing in many cases."

Faridkot city SHO Narinder Singh said, "The accused has been arrested on the complaint of 11 people and further investigation is on."